Why did Jeffrey Dahmer kill his victims? His confession interview and altar drawing explained

30 September 2022, 15:45

Watch Netflix’s Conversations with a Killer- The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes trailer

By Sam Prance

Jeffrey Dahmer confessed to killing 17 young men after he was arrested in 1991. [CW // Extreme violence, sexual assault]

CONTENT WARNING: This article contains details of extreme violence and sexual assault that some readers may find triggering and disturbing.

Netflix's Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story explores the life of Jeffrey Dahmer and why he killed so many victims.

As shown in Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Jeffrey Dahmer was a real-life serial killer who was found guilty of killing 17 men, dismembering their bodies and committing cannibalism and necrophilia. The series shines a light on the fact the majority of Dahmer's victims were Black men. It also addresses how police failed to look into their disappearances.

The true crime dramatisation shows that Dahmer was arrested after Tracy Edwards escaped him and reported him to police. The officers then found many graphic polaroids in an open drawer in Dahmer's bedroom. After arresting the mass murderer, investigators discovered multiple severed heads, skulls and body parts scattered throughout Dahmer's apartment.

In his confession interview, Dahmer said that he was planning to make an altar with his victims' skulls. He also provided officers with a drawing of what the shrine would have looked like and discussed the motive behind his horrific crimes.

Why did Jeffrey Dahmer kill his victims? His confession interview and altar drawing explained. Picture: Netflix, EUGENE GARCIA/AFP via Getty Images)

According to Brian Masters' biography The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer, Dahmer waived his right to a lawyer when police began to question him. He said: "I created this horror and it only makes sense I do everything to put an end to it." He then opened up about his many crimes and why he killed so many men.

In his confession interview, Dahmer said that he was "completely swept along" by his compulsion to kill. He added: "It was an incessant and never-ending desire to be with someone at whatever cost. Someone good-looking, really nice looking. It just filled my thoughts all day long."

Dahmer then explained that he was persevering his victims' skulls to build a private altar in his living room. In a sketch, he demonstrated that he would have adorned a table with skulls and incense and placed two skeletons either side of it.

Discussing who the altar was dedicated to, Dahmer said: "Myself ... It was a place where I could feel at home." He would have used it for meditation: "If this [his arrest] had happened six months later, that's what they would have found."

In a 1993 interview with Inside, Dahmer said that he wanted to "possess" his victims permanently.

Inside the Mind of Jeffrey Dahmer: Serial Killer’s Chilling Jailhouse Interview

Of course, there is no rhyme or reason to Dahmer's crimes. He was found legally sane during his trial and sentenced to life imprisonment for his crimes. In 1994, Dahmer was murdered by his fellow inmate Christopher Scarver.